THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Craigie Street Bistrot

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Craigie Street Bistrot Restaurant Review:

THIS ESTABLISHMENT HAS CHANGED LOCATIONS Sometimes the answer to a problem can be almost too obvious. Just ask Tony Maws of Craigie Street Bistrot. His pitch-perfect boîte is the kind of place one used to happen upon on street corners in France: edible simplicity itself, run by a chef-owner whose menu changes daily to celebrate the market. It seems an obvious formula, yet it has surprised many in making a famously doomed location (the last three restaurants there, despite talent, were all flops) one of the most talked about and visited places in town. There's a daily prix-fixe, always a steal, and a gorgeous à la carte menu that is no less thoughtful for being omni-sensual: cock's combs and cockles, lovage and spruce, and other ingredients less confident hands won't touch distinguish the menu, even as poached line-caught striped bass or roast squab define the essential purity of Maws's cuisine. Influences from the world over may sneak into the occasional dish---Southern grits here, Tunisian sausage there---but in the end Craigie Street's success depends on its wholly personal rather than rigidly authentic approach.